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The Colorado State Shooting Association (CSSA) is sponsoring this week’s newsletter to invite our readers to their September 20th and 21st event at Magnum Shooting Center South. CSSA will feature leading vendors, manufacturers, and machine gun rentals for you to experience at their event, along with a BB gun range run by Sheriff Roybal, where kids can learn about gun safety. If you use code SPRINGSTAXPAYERS, you will get 5% off tickets, raffles, and machine gun experiences. Get tickets today at CSSA.org/events. We hope you join us as we support this great group, as they have recently filed a lawsuit against the ammunition and firearms excise tax.
Here are some of the stories we are following this week. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for up-to-the-minute news.
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How much El Paso County taxpayer money should be spent on special events in our community? How much should taxpayers pay for things like the annual Labor Day Lift Off or the Pikes Peak Hill Climb? Our latest original article digs into the financial details of how El Paso County taxpayers are paying for special events in tough economic times.
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This original, informative reporting would not be possible without the generosity of you, our loyal subscribers. We at Springs Taxpayers United thank you for your support and are always grateful for any additional support you are able to give.
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Were you aware that almost 50% of the Colorado budget is now exempt from TABOR? TABOR limits how much government can grow year over year, and those currently in government despise this. So, they’ve been taking every step possible to ensure that you no longer get a say in how much you are taxed to pay for government growth.
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Our current legislature is screaming about a budget crisis that they are responsible for creating. Some legislators are already using this issue to threaten your future TABOR refunds. The budget problem was caused by their arrogant mindset of entitlement and reckless spending on pet projects, not a lack of tax revenues.
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The upcoming Colorado legislative special session proposes to address the budget crisis that these same legislators created. Additionally, legislators plan to regulate artificial intelligence. Do you think they are qualified to take on either issue?
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Did you know that Colorado ranks number one for criminal victimization and number two for property victimization in the United States? This is not something our legislators deem fit to address in any special session, or regular session, for that matter. Remember when Governor Polis promised to make Colorado one of the ten safest states?
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Our friends at Advance Colorado discuss this week how we must reform fentanyl laws in Colorado. The fentanyl problem, which has been enabled by a pro-crime Colorado legislature, is way out of control.
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Also in illegal alien crime news this week, a Venezuelan illegal alien has been arrested for stealing tens of thousands from ATMs in various states, including Colorado.
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ICE is still searching for one of the two criminal illegal aliens who attempted to ram their car into ICE agents. These agents were conducting apprehension efforts in Black Forest when they were attacked.
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Colorado passed a California-style law mandating a warning label on gas stoves. Now, Colorado is being sued by gas stove manufacturers for this absurd requirement.
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In Colorado, if you are so clinically insane that you cannot be found competent to stand trial for causing injury or death to others, but you do cause injury or death to others, you don’t get institutionalized. You get set free and continue to victimize people. Some victim family members have had enough and are demanding a stop to this practice. Colorado officials choose chaos over law and order every time.
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Wolf introduction in Colorado is going so well that officials now see fit to add wolverines to the list of animals they want to torture.
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The Polis Front Range Rail boondoggle continues in Colorado. A stop in America the Beautiful Park could be an option in the future, but for now, there are only costs and bureaucratic fantasies of trains.
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One Colorado woman received a bill for over $5000 for tolls on E-470. It is being reported that someone stole her license plate, which accounted for some of the errant charges. The rest of the charges can be attributed to bureaucratic errors.
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Here’s a quiz: Which state in the United States is so crazy it would ban purchasing soda with SNAP and EBT benefits, while simultaneously allowing SNAP and EBT benefits to be used at fast food restaurants? If you guessed Colorado, you win!
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Xcel Energy is now threatening customers with rolling blackouts if they do not curb their energy usage during the hot summer months. Currently, Colorado Springs Utilities has no plans for outages or blackouts. But what are the odds we will receive similar messages from CSU in the near future?
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Colorado Springs Utilities has a plan to shutter the Ray Nixon coal power plant, south of Colorado Springs, by 2029. Now, in light of strains on the energy grid, CSU is being forced to revise this plan and keep the plant operational longer. Reality wins over fantasy every time, folks.
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Colorado Springs officials are planning to use more advanced experimental materials when repairing and repaving the Woodmen Road interchange this summer.
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Citizens of Colorado Springs are being encouraged to come help pick up trash along the Pikes Peak Greenway Trail near Monument Valley Park. You may recall that the Keep it Clean Colorado Springs program will be impacted by budget cuts this year.
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The Colorado Springs City Council recently passed a resolution to spend $700,000 of recreational marijuana tax revenue on the downtown Clean and Safe Pilot Program. This program is meant to enhance security in downtown. But what about other areas of the city that are experiencing problems similar to those seen downtown?
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A shelter meant for homeless families was opened in Colorado Springs a few years ago, and funded with COVID relief funds. Now, the funding is gone, and the shelter will need to reduce operations significantly.
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Manitou Springs City Council approved ballot language that will ask voters for increases in excise taxes on tickets, admission fees, and other amusements in the city. Manitou, like most other cities, is struggling to close budget gaps by taxing people more.
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Denver recently passed a law that bans scrap metal dealers from paying cash to people who bring them metal. Proponents of this law say that paying cash for scrap enables theft of metal by drug-using street people in Denver.
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In 2023, Denver purchased a hotel to use as a homeless shelter. This purchase cost taxpayers $9 million. Two years later, this building is still vacant, and Denver is trying to sell the property.
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The Denver City Council came close to forcing ranked-choice voting on Denver citizens. This measure failed by only one vote. We expect they will bring this forward again.
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A citizen’s group in Littleton has gathered enough petition signatures to get zoning change restrictions on the ballot. Advocates say they are not anti-growth, but prefer to see smart growth. They want to have more say in preserving their way of life.
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Would you believe that the Colorado rental market is oversaturated, and that rental costs are dropping as a result? It’s true. There are now too many units, and not enough demand for them in Colorado.
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Colorado Springs School District 11 has been steadily losing students since before the COVID pandemic. Now, they want to spend $500,000 on advertising to increase their enrollment numbers. Is it the purpose of a taxpayer-funded school district to advertise itself when people clearly have better options and don’t send their children there anymore?
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A new ICE detention facility will be built in Hudson, Colorado. This facility will be built at the location of a Colorado state prison that is currently closed.
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If you would like to help support us in our mission as government watchdogs by becoming a Newsletter Sponsor, we are offering two sponsorships for each weekly newsletter at the nominal cost of $100 each. Funds raised from these sponsorship opportunities will help us to keep looking out for taxpayers.
Here are some upcoming meetings in the area. We hope you can attend one or more! If there are other public meetings you’d like to see announced here, please drop us a line. We are happy to include them in an upcoming newsletter. These might be government-related, candidate, or elected official meetings. Thanks!
Colorado Springs City Council Meetings
Monday, August 25, 9:00 a.m.
Colorado Springs City Council Work Session
107 N. Nevada, 3rd floor
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
Tuesday, August 26, 9:00 a.m.
Colorado Springs City Council
107 N. Nevada, 3rd floor
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
El Paso County Board of County Commissioners Meetings
Tuesday, August 26, 9:00 a.m.
El Paso County Board of County Commissioners
Centennial Hall
200 S. Cascade
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
Tuesday, September 2, 9:00 a.m.
El Paso County Board of County Commissioners
Centennial Hall
200 S. Cascade
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
Colorado Springs Utilities Board of Directors
Wednesday, August 20, 1:00 p.m.
Utilities Board of Directors
Blue River Board Room
Plaza of the Rockies, South Tower, 5th Floor
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
Miscellaneous Meetings of Interest
Friday, August 22, 9:00 a.m.
Front Range Passenger Rail Board of Directors Meeting
Online Meeting - Registration Required
Information and Agenda
Monday, September 1, 6:00 p.m.
Law Enforcement Transparency and Advisory Committee
City Hall
107 S. Nevada Avenue, Suite 200
Also, online via Microsoft Teams
Information and Agenda
View the full Colorado Springs City Council meeting schedule here to see upcoming meetings.
View the full Board of El Paso County Commissioners meeting schedule here to see upcoming meetings.
View the full Colorado Springs Utilities Board meeting schedule here to see upcoming meetings. Please also follow CSU on social media at their Facebook Page and on Twitter.
Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Since most of the City and County board and commission meetings are not televised or recorded, we are trying to remedy that. We now have a camera and a tripod for volunteers to check out for future meetings.
If you have a tip about a story in the Pikes Peak region that you aren’t seeing reported, let us know. We will see what we can find out.
How to Contact City and County Officials:
City Hall
107 N. Nevada Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 385-5986
Contact City Council
Mayor's Office
30 S Nevada Avenue, Suite 601
Colorado Springs, CO 80901
(719) 385-5900
Contact Mayors Office
County Commissioners
200 South Cascade Avenue, Suite 100
Colorado Springs, CO 80903-2202
Phone: (719) 520-7276
https://www.elpasoco.com/contact-us/
Thank you!
Rebecca
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